It was a windy day. A young Cormorant, still with a pale front, preened on a post at the island. The adult on the next post preferred to sit it out.
The female Pied Wagtail on the edge of the Serpentine just managed not to get blown away.
Pigeon Eater preened on the edge of the lake with his mate in the background while choppy waves broke on the shore.
Three Mute Swans were ruffled by the wind as they preened near the Lido.
A female Great Crested Grebe bounced in the waves.
A pair displayed in the smooth water in the lee of the island. There are two good nest sites a short distance away.
The young Grey Herons were making a racket in the nest but there was nothing much to see. An adult stalked through a crowd of Feral Pigeons by the bridge. It has a British metal ring, 119232, which I have reported. Sometimes you get sent information about where it was ringed.
Ahmet Amerikali got a picture of a Long-Tailed Tit at the northwest corner of the bridge carrying a bit of spider web to add to its nest.
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There seem to be more and more Coal Tits, a welcome sight. This one was at the other end of the bridge.
A pair appeared in the corkscrew hazel bush in the Dell ...
... and there was also a pair in a rose bush in the Rose Garden ...
... along with a small flock of Blue Tits.
The scene was disrupted by an insistent male Rose-Ringed Parakeet, beautiful but a serious pest ...
... and more so by the Sparrowhawk flying over, but the birds instantly dived into shelter and it didn't get anything.
The railings near the Buck Hill shelter were thronged with Starlings. It's not just that they nest nearby, clearly someone is feeding them there.
Farther up the hill a Green Woodpecker hunted in the long grass.
A Jay at the Vista was expecting a peanut.
I don't quite know why I filmed this, but it's rather sad.
It's sad, but also poetic, and with the eloquence of a hundred poems. It puts the plastic bag scene from American Beauty to shame.
ReplyDeleteit's always amazing how such tiny, weightless birds can resist being blown away by such strong winds that will probably make a grown human reel. I wonder how they do it.
Tinúviel
I think they hang on with their sharp claws. But at the Round Pond, which is much more exposed, I have seen Pied Wagtails being dislodged by the wind. Since they are strong fliers they take no harm, but it must annoy them.
DeleteWell, if I may venture further afield for Valentine's Day, the day when birds mating season begins, the 3 heart balloons caught in windy tree branches reminds me of "Moonlight Feels Right, written by Starbuck's lead singer before Starbucks, after he asked a girl out twice and was turned down flat until the third try when she finally agreed to a date, inspiring him to write this song and leading to a marriage proposal to which she agreed, and eventually to the incomparable marimba improvisation by Bo Wagner (RIP) recaptured live in GA a few years ago. "The wind blew some luck in my direction - I caught it in my hands today!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1__oz2ViMg&list=RDZ1__oz2ViMg&start_radio=1
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